Let Me Go
by Forgotton Angel
Summary: Derek and Casey have the perfect relationship...until Casey's wall of lies threatens to tear them apart. ONESHOT SONGFIC to Let Me Go by 3 Doors Down


**Disclaimer:** I do not own LWD, and Let Me Go is an amazing song by 3 Doors Down which, you guessed it, doesn't belong to me either!

**A/N: **This is based off of the song Let Me Go by 3 Doors Down, an absolutely fantastic story that fits in with the themes of most of my stories, which is that nothing is as it seems. Definitely go watch it, it's one of my favorites!

On with the story…

**Important: They are NOT step-siblings in this story. Sorry, it just wouldn't work. Enjoy anyway!**

Let Me Go: A Dasey One-Shot.

"_One more kiss could be the best thing  
But one more lie could be the worst  
And all these thoughts are never resting  
And you're not something I deserve"_

His warm lips capture mine, and I am in bliss.

_This is where I'm supposed to be_.

Here, with him. Derek, my boyfriend of five months, my best friend, and the love of my life.

I whisper in his ear another lie about studying late tonight, another excuse as to why we can't hang out tonight. He doesn't question me, but his eyes search mine carefully. My blue ones meet his chocolate brown, and a part of me melts for him.

I bite my tongue to hold back the words that want to spill out, tasting the saltiness of my own blood. _It's for his own good_, I tell myself. He can't know, he just wouldn't understand.

But I know the truth...there's absolutely no other way. He's the best thing that ever happened to me.

And it's for my own sanity that I keep it to myself. I don't deserve any bit of the love he gives me, but he can't know. He just can't.

"_In my head there's only you now  
This world falls on me  
In this world there's real and make believe  
And this seems real to me"_

I would give everything for her. Even I can see that this girl has changed me. She's the only one who ever really got me, and we just…click. We balance each other out.

She's the most real, honest, caring person I've ever known. Gorgeous and smart, I live to drive her insane. She kind of saved me from myself. No one bothered to really get to know me before her, but Casey? She just saw right through me, as though we were meant to be.

Casey. She's the only one for me, and I love her. She's the real thing.

"_You love me but you don't know who I am  
I'm torn between this life I lead and where I stand  
And you love me but you don't know who I am  
So let me go  
Let me go"_

"Hey, Sam," is the greeting I give to the girl undressing by the door. My coworker, and best girl friend.

I hang my coat on the rack beside the shabby table, the peeling paint on the walls entrancing me.

"Have you told him yet?" The muffled question comes, as it has for the past four months for every one of the three days a week that I work since Derek and I began going out. I turn to her once, glaring. My eyes soften as she looks at me, her bright hazel eyes looking lost and broken. I shake my head at her, going unzipping my bag.

She comes over to me, her overexposed flesh warm on me as she embraces me. "You have to tell him, Casey. It's not right."

I blink back the tears that threaten to fall, biting down on my bottom lip. "I know. I will, soon." The words are a lie though, and they burn like a fire in my throat. "Come on, you know Pete get's mad if we're even a minute late."

And so off come my "Casey Clothes" and on go the tight black lace underwear. I take a deep breath before applying my make-up, and then glance over to Samantha. She nods at me, and I give her a hug before we walk onto the stage, where drunken men old enough to be my father drool over our appearance.

I gag slightly, but saunter over to the pole nearest to me and begin to dance. My eyes squeeze shut as they call out and grope me, and it's all I can do to not throw up. I suck it up, though, just as I have for the past year, and continue on as the man nearest me slips a twenty into the waistband of my panties.

"_I dream ahead to what I hope for  
And I turn my back on loving you  
How can this love be a good thing  
When I know what I'm goin through"_

My eyes refuse to meet his. It takes an immense amount of effort to smile at his jokes, and I barely have the strength to walk home from school with him. As always, we stop in front of the big blue house with the red car in front.

"See you later, babe." I've promised him a date tonight, though I can barely stand up straight from exhaustion. He turns to go, since he knows that my overprotective parents have no idea about our relationship. _Liar._

When he rounds the corner, I let out the breath I'd been holding and walk another ten blocks, to the cheap apartment I've lived in since my father had been jailed and my mother had killed herself with a razor in the living room. That was two years ago.

I start dinner while I wait for my little sister, Lizzie, to come home from the babysitter with Melanie, my six-month old daughter. When they come in, I notice that Lizzie's shirt is a size too small. She's growing so damn fast, and clothes are very expensive. I make a mental note to work an extra day for the next few weeks.

When my mom died, I made a promise to myself that Lizzie would never be taken away. I took her and all the money my mother had in her account, and came to live at this apartment, with its battered walls and furniture. It wasn't much, but it was enough.

I had been fifteen at the time, and the money ran out in two months. I began to prostitute myself, just to put food on the table for the both of us. Pride be damned, I wasn't going to lose my little sister too. She was the only thing I had left.

Melanie was the result of one of my jobs, but she would never know that. When I got pregnant, I switched to stripping because it was safer, and paid a bit more reliably.

Derek has no idea about the hell I live through, and he can't know. His mother is an alcoholic, and he has enough problems without mine on his shoulders. At the end of the day, Melanie and Lizzie mean more to me than anything, and so my walls remain up.

I love him; but he can't know about this part of me.

"_And no matter how hard I try  
I can't escape these things inside I know  
I know...  
When all the pieces fall apart  
You will be the only one who knows  
Who knows"_

No. There's just no way.

She said…she said she was at her mom's birthday dinner. Sam's text had only named the location and the message 'D…you have to see this.'

But it hadn't mentioned anything like this. Casey, my Casey, smiles down at some freak with a beard as he slaps her on the ass.

Holy Fuck.

She twirls across the pole, and it is then that the ice blue of her eyes catches sight of me. I notice them widen, and the redhead dancing beside her nudges her slightly, seeming to scream at her silently.

I shake my head, refusing to believe it. Sam slaps me on the shoulder. "D, man, let's get outta here."

I let him drag me out, my eyes never leaving my girlfriend who has collapsed into a heap on stage, sobbing. The man in front of her takes the chance to grasp at her breasts. I break free of Sam's grip, running to the older guy before I throw the punch. My fist grazes his teeth and I feel one come lose.

Sam grabs hold of me and pulls me away, while Casey's tear-filled eyes plead with me.

God, please, not this girl.

"_You love me but you don't know who I am  
I'm torn between this life I lead and where I stand  
And you love me but you don't know Who I am"  
_

"Fuck _you_, Casey."

She had been grasping hold of my shoulder, trying to get me to look at her. I instantly regret my words as her hand falls to her side, her bottom lip trembling.

"I'm sorry." She whispers.

I sigh, because I know that despite it all I love her to death. "Just tell me why Casey. Why the _fuck _are you doing this."

"Derek…I'm not who you think I am. Okay? My mom's dead. My dad's in jail. And now I'm the one who has to take care of my thirteen year old sister and my d—Melanie. It's the only way."

She looks down, and I feel my heart break for her. I lift my arms in the air in exasperation. "Why didn't you TELL me any of this? God, Case, I love you. Why couldn't you trust me."

It seems that a part of her makes a choice then, because she takes a deep breath.

"Derek, you're right. I should have told you." She bites her lip before jumping on me and kissing me, and it feels like she has poured every ounce of her pain into this one kiss. "I'm sorry," her tone is suddenly cold and hard, "but I can't do this anymore. I can't do this to you. I love you. Please—please don't forget me."

"_So let me go  
Just let me go"_


End file.
